Long Live Rock!
Remembering John Entwistle of The Who, whom passed away
yesterday.
What have you been rocking to lately?
70 responses total.
Yeah, I read about it at CNN. Wonder who the next big rockstar to keel over will be?
"who passed away yesterday." "whom" is incorrect.
Yeah, but lots of people use "whom" for emphasis rather than grammar.
No, lots of people use "whom" to be pretentious rather than grammatical.
<nod>
Whom would do a facetious thing like that?
I don't know. Who would? And to whom would such a comment be directed, and whom would be annoyed by it? ;}
Sad to hear it. However, both Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are supposed to be pretty healthy guys, so we'll probably still have them around for a while. I'll be really bummed whet Townshend dies. I think he's one of the people who'll be remembered as significant composers in the 20th century.
Maybe Keith Richards will be next.
Keith Richards was never in The Whom.
it probably won't be a member of The Whom, but some otherband from the 60's or 70's. Keith looks like he has been dead several years anyway.
Indeed. Keith cannot be killed by conventional weapons.
The Frog Brothers were wrong. Keith Richards is the Head Vampire, and he will be killed off if and when they make Lost Boys 2.
Apparently the two surviving embers have found a replacement bass player and the tour will continue. I'm not sure how I feel about this.
It's fairly common practice (on big national tours) to have understudy musicians in case of an accident. Obviously you can't replace a lead singer, but you can have other players. And I recall a story years ago about The Police giving a show where Sting (with a heavily bandaged hand) was just lead singer for the show.
this isn't an understudy. This is a Welsh bass guitarist who has worked with a number of nationally recognized bands. He is also a quick study, and will learn the music over the next few days.
Close enough to "understudy", though. It's not like nobody ever bothered to learn any Who tunes. ;)
Between the money, exposure, and long popularity of the band's tunes, i'd guess that there'd be plenty of well-qualified applicants available on a moment's notice.
It was rather sweet yesterday during Delta 88's sound check, while the Who was playing over the TOP speakers, when the two members of Delta 88 who were onstage simultaneously started playing along with "My Generation."
From sfgate.com / San Francisco Chronicle: "Entwistle will be replaced by British studio musician Pino Palladino. ... Palladino played with Townshend on his 1993 U.S. solo tour and recently backed a lineup of rock royalty performing in honor of Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee celebration at Buckingham Palace. A tour organizer said that Palladino had been keeping his schedule open in case Entwistle's heart condition caused him to miss shows on the tour."
In 'The Kids Are Allright', there's is some concert
footage from a show where Kieth Moon evidently
took some horse tranquilizers or something. As
Townshend tells the story, someone was offering
them backstage and Moon was always the one to
show off and take more, of everything.
So after a certain point he can barely play
and then he totally passes out, and it's shocking
to see him draped over the drum kit, looking
like he's dead. They carry him off and he's totally
limp.
So they ask if there's a drummer in the house,
and surprise surprise a whole bunch of drummers
queue up, and it's on with the show.
Wierd. Pete Townshend didn't seem very concerned
about his drummer's health, he seemed to feel
his music was so important.
/hums 'Substitute'
Townshend was probably seriously pissed at Moon, and not in a mood to make some sanctimonious comments for the camera. Then again, the band I'm in has had a hell of time finding a drummer without either a bad attitude, a substance abuse problem, or both, so I'm not feeling especially generous towards drummers these days. :(
Q: What do you call somebody who acts like a musician, dresses like
a musician, hangs out with musicians, but isn't a musician?
A: A drummer.
Yeah, if he was a real musician, he'd be a percussionist.
(Phil Collins started as a drummer.)
I have always wanted to learn how to play the drums. I have to admit though, if I were a drummer I would be the type with a bad attitude so I wouldnt be able to help out Scott. *snort* ;)
I'd offer to help Scott (I don't abuse substances, though my attitude is sometimes questionable), but all I play is djembe.
Re #25: Case in point.
Mm. Jack White of White Stripes started as a drummer, and the lead singer of Cowboy Mouth is the drummer. Both lesser known bands, granted, but neither lacking in musical skills.
resp:25 From what I've seen of Phil Collins, I'd count him as a percussionist. He uses more goodies than just drums.
#30> Mm. I think the drummer/percussionist distinction was introduced so that any musically talented drummers that were offered as examples could be reclassified as percussionists. Unconvincing.
Are you a musician, dude? Ummmmmmm.. I didn't think so. Granted, I know there are plenty of talented "drummers" out there, really. The real point is that the notion of a "drummer," particularly a typical, fledgling rock 'n roll drummer, is a rather limiting one. The really talented ones, I'm sure, know how to play more than just a drum set, and honestly, Phil Collins is a shining example. That instrument family includes a lot more than just drums, and just because a drum set is a standard piece to a typical band, it doesn't mean that's all they play. Karen Carpenter of the Carpenters was a drummer, too.
I'm not a professional musician. I didn't realize that a recording contract was needed to have an opinion on these matters. I am fairly proficient at the dumbek and the djimbe. Playing a drum kit takes more talent than playing the tambourine, which would qualify one as being a "percussionist" (the tambourine is what they give people with no musical instrument skills whatsoever, like Davey Jones). (And next time you answer a question which you don't know the answer to, maybe you should give the person you're asking an opportunity to answer before answering for them.)
doood. you better just stop dissing on Davey Jones *right now*
Yea but it's OK to make drummer jokes.
There a SNL skit where they are having an auction
of Beatle memorabilia. Like, the *actual* toothbrush
used by Paul McCartney one weekend in Amsterdam.
And the people bid it up, every item is selling,
until they bring out, on a handcart, a cardboard
cutout of Ringo.
"This is the *actual* drummer used by the Beatles on all
of their concerts and recordings" and people
are already fumbling for their coats and getting up
to leave. The drummer joke.
On second glance that has to be the most
*lifelike* cardboard cutout anyone has ever
seen, until it totally deadpans
"Live, from New York . ."
Was it meant to be a cutout, or was it meant to be Ringo himself, frozen in place? I didn't see the sketch. I'm not sure that qualifies as a drummer joke, though, as much as a joke on the idea that Ringo was the talentless one (Starr did write a few songs, but they were definitely among the least favorite... did he write "Act Naturally," or just sing it?). Anyway, as far as musician sketches on SNL go, that one reminded me of when Paul Simon was host, and while he's being interviewed, all these people come up to him: the guy who sat in the front row, third from the left, at his Madison Square Garden concert in 77, that sort of person, and Paul Simon rattles off all these details. The sketch ends with Art Garfunkel (the real one, in a cameo) walking by and greeting him, only to have Paul say, "I'm sorry, do I know you?" #34> Davey's cute. Davey's got a really pretty singing voice. Davey can't play any instruments, so they gave him a tambourine, when they finally broke down and let the other guys play. (That's not a dis on Davey, since he hadn't been hired as a musician in the first place... two of them were actors-turned-musicians [Davey and... Peter?], two of them were musicians turned-actors [Michael, definitely, and maybe Micky?: I really don't remember which of Peter and Micky were musicians, although Micky did like his MOOG].) Ironically, or maybe predictably, the most musical of the Monkees left the band the soonest. (The online site I found informs me that Peter and Michael were the musicians, with Michael even selling compositions before and during the show. Linda Ronstadt's "Different Drum" [1968] was a Nesmith tune.)
stop dissing ringo too!
ringo's my favorite of the Beatles. I can dis him if I want.
Oh man. Next thing you know and he'll start dissing on John Denver or something.
now that you mention it... John Denver's performance in "Oh God!" defined 70s geek chic, and made Christians look like hopeless dweebs.
But he sang that song about his grandma's featherbed which totally made up for that.
But then he went and skied into a tree. Oh wait, that was Sonny Bono. Wrong ultra-wholesome 70s geek. My bad.
The SNL sketch had them trying to auction off Ringo Starr himself (he was that week's guest host) and getting no bids. Playing a drum kit well is quite tricky. It doesn't help we're looking for good (up to our level) players, either. Nor is there much money. Hmm, that's probably why we have problems.
re #36: I believe "Act Naturally" was a cover of a Buck Owens tune..
denver plowed his plane into the ocean, not his ski's into a tree.
#44> Yes, looking it up, it was written by Johnny Russell and first recorded by Buck Owens. I was actually going to mention "Octopus Garden" instead, but I thought that was a Lennon/McCartney tune. It turns out *that* is a Starkey composition.
Ringo has always been underrated as a drummer. He just wasn't flashy.
Ringo wasn't flashy? Oh yeah, demure little Ringo Starr, the only one with a stage name, and such an unassuming stage name at that. Heh. Ok. ;}
His playing style wasn't flashy, like a Keith Moon or John Bonham.
That I'll buy. He was a very low-key drummer. Actually, I'd say he was probbaly doing closer to what the job of a drummer (as opposed to a percussionist) really is: Provide an interesting but non-intrusive beat.
Yeah. I forget which Beatle movie it was (either Help or Hard Day's Night) in which it starts putting in a drum beat to another act. Pretty talented. resp:36 Yes, I saw VH1's "Behind the Music." Peter Tork had been a Greenwich Village musician (i.e. East Coast hippie), and Michael Nesmith was indeed a folk composer-musician. They explained that Nesmith was really frustrated by the corporate machine, punching the wall when "Sugar Sugar" was offered to them (quite ironically, it was given to a band comprised of comic strip characters). It was interesting to see "Video Killed the Radio Star" as well, in which they explain Nesmith's contribution to the launch of MTV. Nesmith wasn't the most polished and proficient of composers; a lot of his Monkee tunes suffer in the light of what studio wizards were doing, and he wasn't a consistent hitmaker. But he did have some talent. However, he didn't need to worry about money-- he was the heir of the fortune of the woman who invented paper clips.
She didnt invent paper clips, she invented White Out or Liquid Paper (I forget which)
Michael Nesmith's mother invented Liquid Paper. The only Monkees movie, Head, deals almost exclusively with the issue of them being little more than a commercial product. Its surrealism reminds me a lot of Nesmith's later work, including the much more acerbic but about as strange Estevez cult classic, "Repo Man." The life of a repo man is *always* intense.
Nesmith worked on Repo Man?
He's listed as Executive Producer.
Any idea what he actually did? That title can mean a variety of things.
Nope, no idea. Given that it does have a similar surrealism, it's hard to tell whether he had some creative input, or just agreed to underwrite it because he clicked with the script. It's definitely darker than the few other things he's been involved with (although Head did have a few dark moments, like the wraparound pseudosuicide of the band that it begins and ends with).
resp:53 Whoops, that's right. "Head".. I *loved* that movie, but I swear, Jack Nicholson and the others must have been on mondo drugs.
John Denver was the idiot who ripped on Toledo for being boring. Ok, it is, but he didnt have to write a song about it.
I think my favorite bit is where Peter apes back the words of the guru, talking about the nature of reality for a few minutes before concluding with, "But why ask me, for I know nothing." Instead of being as wowed by Peter as Peter was with the guru, the other Monkees get disgusted and slap him around.
I loved their "pad"
Re #59: I grew up in Toledo, and we were never offended by that.
Re #49, #50: As I recall from listening to Beatles tunes (which I seldom do any more), Ringo almost NEVER did anything other than keep time. I'm familiar with exactly one drum solo on a tune that gets airplay, and it's hardly an artistic tour de force. I guess he supports the stereotype.
Ringo does what few musicians ever manage to do: Be reliable, solid, and never blow his part by trying to be a flashy player. Listen to Steely Dan albums, and reflect on the fact that the players they used were typically 10 times better than the parts they were playing. The result is that those parts are nearly perfect. It's tough to get really good players to limit themselves to a simple part.
btw, is this linked to the music cf, Scott?
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No, actually it isn't.. I'll fix that soon enough.
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Okay, who is the one with Liquid Paper on their monitor?
Tonight the CD burner has started producing discs with clicks about half the time. I suppose it's possible that this actually represents the looming failure of our 15-year-old primary CD player, but no manufactured discs are skipping. Separate copy runs from the same source disk will produce different results: some skip and some don't. Unfortunately everything in the computer has changed recently. We rebuilt the Windows 2000 system on an 80 gig disc. The old 10 gig system had Easy CD Creator 5 basic from a Plextor 2.00 disc. When the Plextor 40/12/24 USB drive which came with that 2.00 disc was destroyed, we got a 40/12/40 USB drive; we didn't install the 2.01 disc which came with the new drive because the old software worked. On the new 80 gig system, however, I could not get the Plextor 2.00 version of Easy CD Creator to recognize the 40/12/40 Plextor drive, so I had to "upgrade" to 2.01. Sigh. Things were working so well...
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